Description

From the architrave of the iconostasis of the Holy Step, three adjoining sections are preserved. The epistle is decorated in the center of the composition with an exergue foliated patriarchal cross surmounted by an arch, which was flanked by two large exergue leaves of recurved acanthus, in biplane relief. Of these, only the one on the left survives today. The rest of the decoration of the arch of the sacred Step is structured in two zones, which have been carved at different levels, of which the lower one is decorated with triple thin meandering shoots that form small interlaced polylobed partitions, according to the system of the Syrian wheels and enclose small five-leaf rosettes. In some places there is a circular "disc" with a polished surface, where there were probably monograms or unusual buttons. Analogous is the decoration of the upper beveled zone of the architrave, which is also decorated with multiple interlocking stem stems and also forms small knotted sharp-pointed partitions, which surround large five-leaved anthemia.